Pork Checkoff Teams with FFA To Teach Kids About Their Food

The Pork Checkoff has joined with the National Future Farmers of America (FFA) to teach children where their food comes from

The Pork Checkoff has joined with the National Future Farmers of America (FFA) to teach children where their food comes from.

The two groups helped create the Middle School Food and Agricultural Literacy Curriculum – a free resource available at www.ffa.learn.com that can be used by teachers as a year-long course or customized to fit a shorter timeframe to teach students about their food. The curriculum has more than 150 free prepackaged, stand-alone lessons and eight units to choose from.

“This is a curriculum that will educate future generations of consumers,” says Karen Richter, a member of the Pork Checkoff Producer Services Committee and a pork producer from Montgomery, MN.

“The purpose is to let them know where their food comes from,” she says.

The eight units include:

Introduction to Agricultural Science

Food Science

Natural Resources

Plant Science

Animal Science

Agricultural Science and Technology

Agricultural Issues

Careers in Agriculture

A team of industry professionals, university specialists and secondary agriculture educators formulated the framework comprised of key concepts, units and lessons objectives determined and aligned to the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources standards.

A team of 20 agriculture educators took those components and created the lessons and ancillary materials. The curriculum has been tested in 32 agriculture programs around the country.

“The curriculum serves as a great tool to get young people interested in careers in agriculture,” Richter says. “It also is one more way for pork producers to promote confidence in what we do and how we do it.”

Learn more about Pork Checkoff-funded programs by calling the Pork Checkoff Service Center at (800) 456-7675 or by logging onto www.pork.org.